Year: 2010

Dory Dynna was one of those nuts who tried to watch all 4 of the Gymnastics NCAA Regional championships streamed live online yesterday.

… because of time zones, there was only about half an hour when all 4 were on at once. However, was watching 3 at once for most of the evening. …

It’s still problematic. But improving rapidly.

Leave a comment, good or bad, if you tried watching the streaming yesterday.

The Thursday of Championships is the best, most interesting day.

April 22, 2010
Stephen O’Connell Center
Gainesville, Florida
2010 NCAA Women’s National Gymnastics Championships

Session 1 (afternoon session)
#1 seed UCLA
#4 seed Oklahoma
#5 seed Utah
#8 seed Oregon State
#9 seed LSU
#12 seed Nebraska

Session 2 (evening session)
#2 seed Florida
#3 seed Alabama
#6 seed Stanford
#7 seed Arkansas
#10 seed Missouri
#11 seed Michigan

If you want to win the Team championships, first you must qualify top 3 in your preliminary Session. The strategy is to go “safe” this day. Any team counting a fall is likely out.

In the Team Final you might take more chances in order to (very slightly) increase your possible Team score. Last year, however, I recall that Georgia made no changes from Prelims to Team Finals.

I don’t have a flight to Gainsville nor tickets, as yet. But I’m leaning towards making the trip. It’s going to be great.

That’s the “story line”.

Here’s Anna Li’s most recent “perfect 10” on Bars. Note the slight wow in one handstand. But I was there. It deserved the 10, in my opinion.

Click PLAY or watch the UCLA TV meet summary on YouTube.

(via @Gymbe4, Anna Li)

Peaking early?

Too much hype?

I don’t think so. These girls are believers.

Gymnastic Examiner’s Blythe Lawrence is at the French International:

… Qualifiers to Sunday’s finals (full results can be seen here):

WOMEN’S VAULT:
1. Youna Dufournet, FRA
2. Jiang Tong, CHN
3. Melodi Pulgarin, ESP
4. Emily Little, AUS
5. Brittany Rogers, CAN
6. Niamh Rippin, GBR
7. Nastassia Zaitsava, BLR
8. Gabriela Janik, POL

UNEVEN BARS:
1. Beth Tweddle, GBR
2. He Kexin, CHN
3. Wu Liufang, CHN
4. Youna Dufournet, FRA
5. Aliya Mustafina, RUS
6. Pauline Morel, FRA
7. Jessica Lopez, VEN
8. Vasiliki Millousi, GRE

BALANCE BEAM:
1. Wu Liufang, CHN
2. Luisa Galiulina, UZE
3. Aliya Mustafina, RUS
4. Vasiliki Millousi, GRE
5. Ana Maria Izurieta, ESP
6. Jessica Lopez, VEN
7. Pauline Morel, FRA
8. Jiang Tong, CHN

FLOOR EXERCISE:
1. Beth Tweddle, GBR
2. Jiang Tong, CHN
3. Luisa Galiulina, UZE
4. Wu Liufang, CHN
5. Marine Brevet, FRA
6. Jessica Lopez, VEN
7. Ramilya Musina, RUS
8. Niamh Rippin, GBR

MEN’S FLOOR EXERCISE:
1. Diego Hypolito, BRA
2. Alexander Shatilov, ISR
3. Eleftherios Kosmidis, GRE
4. Tomislav Markovic, CRO
5. Du Wei, CHN
6. Gael da Silva, FRA
7. Isaac Botella, ESP
8. Jeffrey Wammes, NED

POMMEL HORSE:
1. Cyril Tommasone, FRA
2. Robert Seligman, CRO
3. Saso Bertoncelj, SLO
4. Donna Donny Truyens, BEL
5. Andrey Perevoznikov, RUS
6. Zoltan Kallai, HUN
7. Pavel Russinyak, RUS
8. Yann Rayepin, FRA

STILL RINGS:
1. Samir Ait Said, FRA
2. Timur Kurbanbayev, KAZ
3. Anton Fokin, UZB
4. Kohei Uchimura, JPN
5. Jonathan Horton, USA
6. Gustavo Palma Simoes, POR
7. Arthur Zanetti, BRA
8. Ihar Kazlou, BLR

VAULT:
1. Stanislav Valeiev, KAZ
2. Isaac Botella, ESP
3. Diego Hypolito, BRA
4. Jeffrey Wammes, NED
5. Sergio Sasaki Junior, BRA
6. Wai Hung Shek, HKG
7. Luis Araujo, POR
8. Yann Rayepin, FRA

PARALLEL BARS:
1. Anton Fokin, UZB
2. Takuya Nakase, JPN
3. Vasileios Tsolakidis, GRE
4. Yann Cucherat, FRA
5. Roman Kulesza, POL
6. Guo Weiyang, CHN
7. Alexander Tsarevich, BLR
8. Hamilton Sabot, FRA

HIGH BAR:
1. Kohei Uchimura, JPN
2. Jonathan Horton, USA
3. Rafael Martinez, ESP
4. Epke Zonderland, NED
5. Aljaz Pegan, SLO
6. Yann Cucherat, FRA
7. Samuel Piasecky, SVK
8. Roman Kulesza, POL

commentary – Beth Tweddle, three French gymnasts lead after day one at French International

The Men’s competition is stronger. As usual.

“Kazakhstan’s Stanislav Valeiev threw a pretty effortless looking Dragulescu (handspring double front half out) and followed up with a nearly stuck Tsukahara double back …”

While He Kexin “struggled” and fell on dismount, still qualifying in second place on Bars.

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

From Couch Gymnast, UCLA Qualifies on Top …

197.825 – UCLA
197.675 – Florida
197.400 – Alabama
197.250 – Oklahoma
196.900 – Utah
196.775 – Stanford
196.675 – Arkansas
196.500 – Missouri
196.400 – Louisiana State
196.275 – Oregon State
195.975 – Nebraska
195.800 – Michigan

Most agree that the biggest shock was that the 5-time defending National Champions did not advance.

Here’s the least satisfied man in Gymnastics tonight, Jay Clark, Head Coach of Georgia.

World Gymnastics called University of Missouri making their first trip to the NCAA Championships the biggest surprise of the day. Senior Sarah Shire rocked the house for Mizzou.

Is it true that Sarah was named NCAA Gymnast of the Year?

I’d say she deserved it for leading her team into the big show for the first time.

Update: Florida’s coaching staff “cheered enthusiastically” upon hearing that Georgia had been eliminated.

They are back.

Congratulations to Head Coach Dan Kendig and everyone in Lincoln.

… The 12th-ranked Nebraska women’s gymnastics team posted a score of 195.875 Saturday night at the University of Kentucky’s Memorial Coliseum to finish second at the NCAA Central Regional and earn a berth to the NCAA Championships in Gainesville, Fla. April 22-24.

“It’s good to get back to the big dance,” Head Coach Dan Kendig said. …

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=74&SPID=30&ATCLID=204926302&amp;

DB_OEM_ID=100″>Huskers.com

And they did it without Kylie Stone, out with injury.

Disaster.

The 5 time defending Champions are out.

1 Missouri 196.500
2 Georgia 196.275
2 Oregon State 196.275

OS win in a tie-breaker. Congratulations to the Beavers (especially Stephanie McGregor). Only the top 2 teams move on.

I’m more convinced than ever that UCLA will win Championships in 2wks. They scored 197.825. (Don’t tell me it’s because they were overscored at home.)

They’ve got the “momentum“. The “intangibles“. They’re giving it “110%”. … Whatever …

Coach Chris Waller has said all year that this team has something. He’s the same coach from the past 3 years when I always felt something would go wrong with UCLA. And it usually did.

Giving the UCLA coaches all the credit for the 2010 season is like blaming Jay Clark’s coaching team for everything that went wrong with Georgia this season.

In the end, it’s the gymnasts who must perform.

====
Results:

Gymnasts are all dancing on the Floor to a live performance of Jackson 5 song.

They announced the results of the other Regional Championships, but didn’t explain that Georgia lost the tie break to Oregon State. Organization of this meet could have been better.

1. UCLA 197.825
2. Arkansas
3. Arizona Wildcats
4. Iowa State

All-around:
1. Vanessa Zamarripa
2. Anna Li
3. Casey Jo Magee
3. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs

Winners:
Vault – Anna Li
Bars – Anna Li
Beam – Casey Jo Magee (… I didn’t see that routine.)
Floor – Brittani McCullough

A 6-way tie for 2nd on Floor. That’s one problem with NCAA judging.

====
Sixth rotation:

UCLA finished on Beam. Tagged as “inconsistent” all year, would they fall apart?

No way. That line-up is amazing. Did they put up Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs second?

Sheesh!

Beautiful, if careful, routines. Especially Vanessa. … I thought the judges were slightly (for once) stingy. Aisha Joy Gerber looked terrific.

Fifth rotation:

Only in College gymnastics will I hear my favourite song of 1975, Radar Love, used as Floor music.

Hey Gymnastike. Check out EHH on Bars for “stick of the week”. That was a dart. Swing BIG. Let the double layout go a bit long. Be ready with the knees.

The crowd wanted a 10.0 for Vanessa. Ah … NO. Buy that dissenting judge a glass of wine.

Compare her routine with the next, Anna LI. Now that’s a “perfect 10” College routine. Wow!

Still, UCLA can be beaten on Bars. It’s their weakest apparatus as a team. Arkansas was just as strong tonight.

Coaches, though some disagree, I’m quite convinced that Pak is the way to go for high to low transfer for girls that want to compete University. It’s less consistent than shoot 1/2, but far less deductible.

Even Straddle back is better than shoot 1/2.

====
Fourth rotation:

Kudos Arkansas. Very clean, very smart Bar routines. Looks like great coaching, to me.

Who does the 1/2-in, double front dismount? Perfectly! Now that’s cool.

Certainly the NCAA is not the place to seek out new skills, nor innovative combinations. Any Level 10 meet is better. Safety and consistency is the goal in College. Beam is particularly predictable, though it’s still my favourite apparatus. So nice to watch solid routine after routine with only rarely a wobble.

Back twisting dismounts are a risk in College beam. The landing is difficult to stick. And many girls still cross their legs. Gainers are the best dismount.

====
Third rotation:

Brittani has so much power on vault. Her warm-ups are scary.

I was cheering the UCLA Vault coach after 3 of his first 4 girls “stuck”. But Brittani and Vanessa both had landing deductions.

Triple twist on Floor is great, but deductible. Great College tumbling lines include Rudi to layout step-out. And Double twist to layout step-out.

Each rotation has had more errors from the other teams. …

====
Second rotation:

UCLA starts on Floor. Brittani McCullough had the loudest audience reaction during march-in, I reckon. They have a lot of girls on this team!

I could hardly watch any of the other apparatus. UCLA was riveting on FX. What a “team” commitment to choreography, leaps and jumps. The routines have some similar movements, rhythm breaks, …

This is UCLA Gymnastics 2010, a huge improvement over the past few years.

The smart pundits will be picking UCLA to win Championships 2010.

Brittani McCullough had the best routine and the top score, 9.925. Her tumbling has been more effortless. But having now seen this routine live, I’d say Brittani is the routine to beat at Championships. It’s electrifying. (Something like McCool’s the year she won.)

UCLA put up EHH last on Floor, a great and very “clean” routine too. 9.90.

Arkansas had some weak vault. Arizona a lot of breaks and falls on Bars.

====
First rotation:

I love College gymnastics live. It’s such a positive atmosphere. Arkansas and fans loud and enthusiastic, bringing some of that SEC rah rah. They showed some great Floor … how many 1/1-ins on that team?

I love how few falls you see in College gymnastics. It actually speeds up the meet. Only one in first rotation, I believe. On vault. … She warmed it up perfectly, too.

There was a Handspring Handspring Front Pike on Vault. Nice!

Where is powerhouse Thomasina Wallace from San Jose? Injured?

Screw-up. The announcer called rotation before the last Beam competitor had gone.

====
I seem to have a WiFi connection here at Pauley Pavilion. This is the Regional Championships, qualifying teams and individuals to NCAA National Championships in Florida.

UCLA Hall of Fame gymnast Kim Hamilton Anthony was outside the arena promoting her memoir, Unfavorable Odds.

Tickets only $10, a great value. Still, there’s surprisingly low attendance. Too many alternative activities in L.A. on a Saturday night, I assume. Traffic was light getting here, however.

Live streaming seems to be working. I’ll update this post with highlights as the night progresses.

Photos and results for WAG are posted, in Romanian, on ProSport.

(via Inspired by Nadia)

One of the good news stories is Raluca Haidu who won the AA scoring 58.150. Recall that she was one of the two little gymnasts featured in the documentary The Secret of Deva. … Surviving all that bad coaching, she looks terrific, today.

Click PLAY or watch Haidu’s Floor on YouTube.

From the Couch Gymnast:

… I love her music. It’s a great piece of folk. Up there with Sandra’s 2008 music as far as I concerned. Little Pitic is just looking terrific. She didn’t finish her last twist, but like a lot of Romanians these days, her leaps and turns are excellent. …

More on Romania …

See more videos from the meet on the catastoian YouTube channel. Especially the 14.60 Floor from Jr. Diana Bulimar. Great potential.

Other videos with commentary are posted on Gymnastics Issues. Gymnastics, No Ceiling was there, posting some of her own meet photos.

So, it’s the usual in Romania leading up to Europeans – Crisis, what crisis?. And the usual problems: Bars and lack of depth.

I was wondering when this bad idea would be realized.

An update from Blythe in Paris:

This news comes from the coaches orientation: Sunday’s finals will have a kiss and cry area and the gymnasts must go there to await their scores after performing. After their score is given, they may return to the training gym if they have another event to do.

As far as I know, this World Cup will be the first to implement the kiss and cry, an idea stolen from figure skating that most gymnastics fans don’t like.

The FIG announced the addition of the kiss and cry area for events last year but thankfully did not have one at the World Championships. …

Live blog: Podium training at the French International

Coaches and gymnasts best rehearse how to react to different scores. Or there’s going to be some awkward moments on international TV.

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.js

UPDATE from Eurofan:

… you do realise this isn’t new? It’s been done in Stuttgart, Cottbus and Maribor for a number of years and nobody was upset about it. …

My reply:

Thanks Eurofan. I didn’t realize that.

Over in North America we are touchy about “freedom”. When the rules force coaches and athletes to do anything new, the reaction is generally negative.

That said, I still think kiss and cry is a bad idea, especially for Men’s gymnastics.